Hidden fees for Firefly mobile bookings

The offering seemed simple, and being an explorer, I was convinced enough to give it a spin. Little did I know, I was going to be in for a surprise! Convenience my foot! More like conveniently hidden fees! It reminds me of the time I blogged about Tiger Airways trying to hide certain fees too – read about it here.

With my iPhone, I logged onto m.fireflyz.com.my and was promptly redirected to flyfirefly.mobi. Everything seemed easy enough – aside from the little niggles I discovered along the way.

Wait a minute… after selecting my preferred flight details, you take me to complete passenger details? But, but… I want to know HOW MUCH it is going to cost before I proceed! If it’s beyond my budget, then I can select an alternate date and time! Bad, bad UI (Plug: Do you want to hire Integricity for your user interface needs? *grin*). Oh, and what is with the copyright, by the way?

After tediously completing the passenger information (for which I had to go back and forth because it expected me to complete my identity card details, though not stipulated as mandatory), it finally shows me the price. I glanced cursorily at the booking fee and assumed it was a standard cost for all bookings.

But out of curiosity, I tried the website on my MacBook Pro. AND, I was surprised that there was no booking fee levied. This just goes to show how airlines are continuing to fleece customers who use their mobile channels, when they should be promoting them instead.

Heed the warning – you may not get the best deals by booking via mobile channels, or even online for that matter.

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Heya, I'm Alex TheBackpackr & here's my lovely wife with whom I go on all adventures. I'm an entrepreneur and a Communications Consultant for a large church at the same time. More about me here.

This website is a journal of encouragement and record of projects undertaken for clients. There are a lot of how-tos and videos + articles that should be helpful for anyone interested in improving communications for an organisation, especially a church.